White Sox 'ready to strike' with Draft picks
This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Mike Shirley has a good idea of how the first seven picks of the 2023 MLB Draft will play out, although he didn’t provide me the exact order or names when we talked earlier this week.
Beginning at No. 8 and leading to the White Sox pick at No. 15, there’s far less certainty in the mind of the organization’s amateur scouting director.
“Yeah, we have to prepare for the player we think might fall,” Shirley said. “Who is the famous player in this Draft who may scoot down the board? And are we prepared for him if he were to land at 15?
“What does your pool [budget] mean on a player that might slide down the board based on their expectations? That’s the preparation that has to go into the evaluation, but financially and pool-wise, being ready to attack.”
Shirley is in charge of his fourth Draft for the White Sox, his first coming during the 2020 season affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and shortened to just five rounds. The White Sox have a bonus pool of $8,962,000 and $4,488,600 allotted at pick No. 15.
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MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis went with Jacob Gonzalez, a shortstop out of Mississippi, at 15 in a mock draft from a week ago. Callis also mentioned the team “desperately needs pitching.” Jonathan Mayo, another expert MLB Pipeline columnist, chose third baseman Aidan Miller at 15 out of Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, Fla., as part of his mock draft Thursday.
The strength of the Draft is college position players, especially at the top, according to Shirley. College pitching is the weakest as a whole, and the depth is a little bit lighter.
“That’s the trickiest part, trying to manage that and how to attack that and when to attack that,” Shirley said. “I’ve always said this is an arms race. You have to secure these guys somehow, someway. You better be on your toes and make sure you are ready to strike.
“There’s a pretty good inventory through the first round and even in the second round of position players from the college ranks who have had great careers and do a lot of things you like, both from the evaluation standpoint and then metrically. That’s been a lot of the work, filtering through the college players from a position standpoint.”
About 12 players are still being considered by the White Sox at No. 15, with college and high school players in that mix. The Draft begins Sunday night at 6 p.m. CT with the White Sox also picking at No. 51 in the second round. The 20-round Draft runs through Tuesday.
“We’ve tried to stay open-minded and challenged the staff to make sure we attack this,” Shirley said. “We are picking in the middle of the round every time, which meant a lot of diligence looking just in front of us and just behind us in terms of depth of the players.
“Who is going to fall is tricky this year. The guys have done a great job working hard and staying on task.”